The worst part about owning your own fashion boutique...

Ok, so when I first started this endeavor, I never imagined that there could be anything (and I mean ANYTHING) bad about owning your own fashion haven.  This fantasy came to a screeching halt when I discovered that just because you own all the things you're selling, does not mean you get to WEAR all the things you are selling....and this makes a HUGE difference.  While I love to purchase things, I feel getting to wear your new purchase just brings the whole experience full circle.

Now, I do get to keep quite a sweet stash of loot for myself, but, as most of you can empathize with, I am a recovering shopaholic; I use the term "recovering" loosely.   In the past, I might have been known to have had an ever so slight shopping addiction.  This shopping addiction stretched far past the occasional new pair of boots and a sweater.  No, no, no...this shopping addiction met me at any (and I mean ANY) store where I could spend money.  Ready to wear, shoes, accessories, home decor...you name it and I could find immense joy spending money on it.

Nowadays, I'm a little more sensible with my spending habits, but only because I finally realized that all this money I was spending was coming from somewhere.  It just didn't magically show up in my bank account by accident.  Someone must have worked pretty darn hard to put it there (cough,cough...Dad...).  It wasn't until after college, and I had a big girl job of my own, that I came to this realization.

So, while buying stuff for others brings me so much joy, I still enjoy buying a little happy for myself too.   ;)  The picture below is a collage of the things that I WISH were in my personal collection today.  I guess I'll do the "right thing" and let some other lucky soul stumble upon them and have their full circle moment.

Wishing you lots of light, love, and full circle moments!

And so it begins...

From the time I was able to start dressing myself, I've had a strange affinity for clothes and jewelry.  There has always been something special about putting on a new dress or a fabulous statement necklace that gives you that little boost of confidence we could all use every now and again.  Naturally, I have always had a strong desire to open up my own boutique and help women feel great about themselves every day.  Even if it is just giving them the encouragement to buy something nice for themselves, because I have noticed as women, especially as we age, we adopt the idea that we shouldn't buy nice things for ourselves, as if we do not deserve such things (which I personally feel is a complete load of malarkey.)  Above all else, I have always craved that feeling of helping others feel amazing in their own skin.  I guess it’s quite selfish whenever I put it that way. 

So, here I am.  26 years old and opening up my own online fashion boutique.  Is it the charming, shabby chic, brick and mortar store I have always daydreamed about?  Well…no, but it’s definitely a large step in the right direction.  And on top of it all, I’m happy.  Like, really happy….the delirious kind… where you ask yourself if maybe you are a little too happy because no one is supposed to be this happy, right?

One piece of advice my Dad has always given me is this, “Find something you love….something you’d do for free, and then find a way to make money doing it.”  So, here I am, doing something I’d do for free (actually, for the past four months I have been paying other people to allow me to do it) and my attempt to make money doing it. 

The best part about this whole experience thus far is that I feel like for the first time in my life, I’m really on my way to fulfilling who I was meant to be.  The woman I knew was deep down in there has finally made an appearance….and I really like her.  She’s polite, decisive, and even a little bit brazen, and she never once falters to know exactly what she wants and that she is perfectly capable of obtaining it.  I hope she’s here to stick around for a while. 

Wishing you all light, love, and the courage to pursue something you’d do for free!